Director of the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin on why it is impossible to be guided solely by reason, and the power of free imagination.
I read Kataev’s book quite a long time ago, more than 25 years ago. I then grew up and only began to realize my life priorities. These words resonated very well with me. Imagination and feelings, intuition is more important than reason and rationality — this is my feeling of life, my credo. With feelings, and not with reason, inner freedom is connected for me. And the feeling of oneself in the world, one’s loneliness in the best sense of the word, one’s originality, fullness — all this is connected precisely with imagination and feelings. I think that people related to art, even if they find themselves in leadership positions, cannot be officials. After all, the programmed state, dry administration contradicts the creative one. I became the director of the largest museum, in fact, I should be an official. To be part of them, of course, I have to. But these Kataev lines, very true, constantly remind: as soon as I become a manager, I will cease to be myself.
* Valentin Kataev (1897-1986), writer, founder of the Youth magazine. A quote from his book «A Broken Life, or the Magic Horn of Oberon» (Soviet Writer, 1983).